Congresswoman Moore’s Amendments in the Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act Pass the House
Washington,
December 10, 2019
Congresswoman Moore’s Amendments in the Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act Pass the House Today, Congresswoman Moore voted for the Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act, which includes ten bills to ensure that coastal communities are properly prepared to address the climate crisis. The package, as passed, includes two amendments offered by Congresswoman Moore to guarantee low-income and tribal communities are involved in climate change planning. Congresswoman Moore released the following statement: “I am proud to support the Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act, which ensure coastal communities have the resources to properly respond to the effects of climate change. The underlying bill includes the Tribal Coastal Resiliency Act which I strongly support that would expand the Coastal Zone Management Act to allow tribal governments to also implement coastal and shoreline measures that support public safety, public access, and cultural and historic preservation. In that spirit, I proposed amendments to ensure that coastal tribal and low-income communities are not left out of critical planning for the future in other programs created in the bill. For too long, low-income communities have lacked the political and economic power to protect their communities from environmental and health hazards, even though they are particularly vulnerable and disproportionately affected. Similarly, our Native brothers and sisters are seeing climate change threaten their water and food sources. These are communities that have contributed to the least amount of greenhouse emissions, but are seeing climate change harm their way of life. Environmental injustice has weakened their voices, but this amendment strengthens their voices by requiring two programs in the bill (the Living Shoreline Grant Program and the Climate Change Adaption Preparedness and Response Program) to consult with these communities in developing plans that will guide funding decisions. We need to engage everyone to tackle the challenges posed by climate change. No one can be left out because nobody can afford to be left behind.” |
